A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Friday, November 13, 2009

UPDATED:I originally said C-SPAN didn't cover the peace process panel. They did.

Well, this is only slightly less unexpected than the sun rising in the East, given the fact that Hamas has said there would be no elections in Gaza, and that Abu Mazen's stepping aside leaves Fatah without a candidate in the West Bank, but it now seems to be official that there won't be Palestinian elections in January. Also see here.

So where do we go from here? Nathan Brown, who follows Palestinian political evolution closely, has both a commentary at Carnegie and a guest post on Marc Lynch's blog, both addressing his call for some sort of "Plan B." Read his ideas; this is going to be a major subject of discussion and debate for some time to come.

2 comments:

al-Farabi
said...

Khalil and Dan spoke with great eloquence and at times ferocity. I was particularly pleased with Dan's reference to Clinton's 'unprecedented' remark. Khalil, as per usual, laid out a persuasive narrative of Abu Mazen's strategic thinking.

I also really enjoyed Murhaf's take on Syria. He rightly expressed the possibility of moving Syria away from its alliance with Iran, but at the same time recognizing that the West probably should not expect a clean break. Additionally, he did away with the notion, oft repeated in the echo chamber of WINEP, that Syria cannot make peace with Israel.

As al-Farabi said. Nor did my mentioning Shikaki and Levy intend any slight to my old friend and colleague Murhaf Jouejati, who spoke on Syria, or Ambassador Daniel Kurtzerl, who provided the overview.

"Michael Collins Dunn is the editor of The Middle East Journal. He also blogs. His latest posting summarizes a lot of material on the Iranian election and offers some sensible interpretation. If you are really interested in the Middle East, you should check him out regularly."— Gary Sick, Gary's Choices

"Since we’re not covering the Tunisian elections particularly well, and neither does Tunisian media, I’ll just point you over here. It’s a great post by MEI editor Michael Collins Dunn, who . . . clearly knows the country pretty well."— alle, Maghreb Politics Review

"I’ve followed Michael Collins Dunn over at the Middle East Institute’s blog since its beginning in January this year. Overall, it is one of the best blogs on Middle Eastern affairs. It is a selection of educated and manifestly knowledgeable ruminations of various aspects of Middle Eastern politics and international relations in the broadest sense."— davidroberts at The Gulf Blog

"Michael Collins Dunn, editor of the prestigious Middle East Journal, wrote an interesting 'Backgrounder' on the Berriane violence at his Middle East Institute Editor’s Blog. It is a strong piece, but imperfect (as all things are) . . ."— kal, The Moor Next DoorThis great video of Nasser posted on Michael Collins Dunn’s blog (which is one of my favorites incidentally) ...— Qifa Nabki